Pandas Live on

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With the good news, comes some bad...

I no sooner wrote about the happiness of the new cubs being born after the earthquake and some sombering news comes out of China.  Apparently, a wild panda was rescued by a villager when they spotted the panda looking for food in their garden.  This no doubt is the first of what I am sure will be many more disheartening stories of how badly the earthquake affected those pandas that were living in the wild.  Here is the article, taken from China.Org.Cn.

Wild giant panda's food chain destroyed by quake

A villager saved a starving giant panda that lives in the wild near the Wolong Nature Reserve in southwest China's Sichuan Province on October 26, 2008.

This is the first ever wild panda rescued since this May's devastating Sichuan earthquake, the Beijing Morning Post reports.

Deng Wenping, the villager found the wild panda looking for food in his vegetable plot early 7 o'clock on Sunday morning. The panda was moving very slowly and was suspected to be ill.

Upon his information, the local township rushed a fact-finding experts group to the site and took the panda to the Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda.

After initial examination, the experts identified the wild panda as a 10-year-old female, and she has been suffering from malnutrition and digestion problems. Weighing at only 60 kilograms, the weak panda is believed to have been in hunger for months ever since their food chains in the wild have been shattered by the quake.

Her condition has now become stable following the medical treatment given by the experts group. Reports say experts are conducting further examinations on her.

The Wolong National Nature Reserve is less than three kilometers away from the epicenter of the Wenchuan earthquake on May 12 this year. More than 40 kilometers of the giant panda's habitat were damaged.

As winter approaches, the giant panda's staple food, bamboo, will be covered by snow, further exacerbating their food shortage.

(CRI October, 2008)

China's pandas doing better

We have two great pieces of good news concerning the pandas in China after all they went through with the May 12, 2008 earthquake. 

The first one is the traditional 100 day naming ceremony for the 1st twins that were born after the earthquake just took place. Here is proud momma, Guo Guo with her two cubs, Ping Ping and An An. They seem oblivious to all the hoopla about them...ha ha. 

The second piece of great news is China reports that the China Giant Panda Protection and Breeding Center in Ya'an, Southwest China's Sichuan Province has successfully bred a total of 13 giant panda cubs after the May 12, earthquake.  There was much concern for the pregnant mothers after they had experienced the earthquake and also because they had to be moved to a new unfamiliar location right after the earthquake.  So a big sigh of relief and congratulations!

Australian Zoo to welcome Giant Pandas

It seems like yesterday, I was reading about the Adeliade Zoo in Australia had reached an agreement to bring Giant Pandas to their zoo for breeding.  I happen to come across a video concept of the zoo and their plans on YouTube today and decided to put together a little video of the pandas and what's in store for them when they arrive in 2009.

Pandas on Parade in Paris

Paper mache pandas were set up by members of the World Wildlife Fund to symbolize the 1,600 pandas left on earth and to call people to do their part in helping to reverse the deterioration of our natural environment.  They are pictured here on the Parvis des droits de l'Homme at Paris Trocadero esplanade.

Does anyone know how I can get one of these?

Mei Mei and Eimei's Legacy

Here is a wonderful collection of the offspring that Mei Mei and Eimei her partner, contributed to our world while living at Adventure World, Japan. 

Thank You Mei Mei, dear sweet panda, you won't be forgotten. 

Adventure World  has posted a statement on their website concerning the death of  Mei Mei. 

  

Lun Lun and her cub

Although the webcam at Zoo Atlanta monitors Lun Lun with her male cub, 24 hours a day right now, alot of sleeping and eating is going on.  The cub sleeps while his little body is growing and Lun is chomping away at the boo in-between feedings so she will have plenty of milk to provide the cub.  I was lucky to catch a nursing session and so put together a short version here for you.  Enjoy the special moment.

Mei Mei of Adventure World, Japan has died

According to sources on flickr who follow the Japanese blogs, the zoo has confirmed that 14 year old Mei Mei died on October 15, 2008 at 5:29 am, Japan time.  When the news breaks onto the media I will provide more information.  Very sad. 

Here is a translated notice that was posted on the Adventureland Blog this morning.

Google Translation
"Notice"

Wednesday, October 15, 2008 5:29 minutes, the giant pandas, "plum plum (MEIMEI)" (Mexicana m),
及BAZU the treatment of hard death. Notice here respectfully.
6 years old in July 2000 in the zoo, "plum, plum," 14-year-old age one month. In January of this year, which had been ill but recovered,
On October 4, the second condition was worsening, in cooperation with both Japan and China have been devoted to the treatment,
Unfortunately death. The pathology tests, and we will investigate the cause of death.

For a long time, a lot of育MI children, greatly expanding the circle of my happiness, "plum plum" to pray for the souls of.
It helped us a lot of warm and everyone watching, I thank you very much thicker.
We watched a warm bon appétit pandas as a family, and look forward.
Thank you.



Adventureland
Staff

Chinese complete sequencing genome of giant panda

This is great news for the future of all giant pandas.

SHENZHEN, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists have completed sequencing the genome of giant pandas. The announcement was made here Saturday.

    They hope the new information will give them a better biological understanding of why pandas eat bamboo, have black circles around their eyes and produce few offspring.

    "By sequencing the giant panda genome we've laid the genetic and biological foundation for us to gain a deeper understanding of the peculiar species," said Dr. Wang Jun, a scientist with the Beijing Genomics Institute's Shenzhen branch (BGI Shenzhen), a core participant in the project.

So far, scientists learned, through drawing and assembling the genome sequence, that giant pandas are akin to dogs and human beings but are very different from mice.

    They also discovered more supporting evidence that giant pandas might be a subspecies of black bears.

    Giant pandas, known for being sexually inactive, are among the world's most endangered animals due to a shrinking habitat. It's one reason why scientists decided to sequence its genome.

    "It will help genetically explain why giant pandas have poor reproductive abilities, so that scientists can help them deliver more cubs," Wang said.

    Enhanced disease control was another benefit of the study, Wang said

  The International Giant Panda Genome Project started in March 2008 with scientists from China, Britain, the United States, Denmark and Canada.

    According to BGI Shenzhen scientists, data from the project is expected to have an extensive impact on various scientific areas such as ecology, evolution and sequencing technology.

    A three-year-old female panda, named Jing Jing, from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda breeding in southwest China's Sichuan Province, was chosen by scientists for the genome sequencing. Jing Jing was also the prototype of one of the five mascots of the Beijing Olympics.

    "We have done such a huge amount of research that if we compile a book with the genome sequence, the height would be equal to the landmark 384-meter Diwang Tower of Shenzhen," Wang said.

    There are about 1,590 pandas living in China's wild, mostly in Sichuan and the northwestern provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu.

    In 2007, there were 239 captive-bred giant pandas in the country.

    Yang Huanming, another scientist at BGI Shenzhen, said his colleagues will work on mapping out a more detailed genome sequence of the panda by the end of this year.

    Chinese scientists have made big improvements in gene studies and genome sequencing in the past few years through their own efforts and participation in a series of international projects, Yang said.

    Chinese scientists have contributed to the genome sequencing of a rice paddy, silkworm, hen and pig. In October last year, they finished sequencing the first Han Chinese genome, Yang said.

    (Reporting by Peng Yong in Shenzhen, Writing by Li Jianmin in Beijing)

Chengdu Cubbies, draw big crowds.

Well, darn I still can't get the Chengdu cams pull up, but thanks to apandalover of flickr, she captured a few great shots for us. 

Atlanta cubbie getting bigger and bigger and bigger!

Well there's no stopping him now, as the Zoo Atlanta reports our little boy is now a whopping 3.4 pounds!

Vienna Giant Pandas coming to Pandas Live On!

I am happy to announce that I will be starting to expand the information on Giant Pandas from just U.S. pandas to those living around the world, beginning with the panda family that lives at Zoo Vienna. 

March of 2003, a young pair of pandas, male Long Hui, female, Yang Yang, arrived at the zoo.  On August 23, 2007 they had their first cub, Fu Long. 

I will do a followup of the whole panda family soon, begin a new photo category with them and add updates on them on a regular basis. 

Thanks to Zoo Vienna for the permission to use their photos. 

Giant Pandas draw big crowds during Chinese National Holiday

The Chinese began celebrating their  "Golden Week", which marks the 59th anniversary of the founding of the new China.  This national holiday runs from September 29 - October 5, 2008. 

At the Xiangiang Wildlife World in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, the pandas have become the tourists favorite attraction in the city.  They currently have ten pandas at the zoo, five were recently adopted from the Wolong nature reserve. 

Beijing reported that at the Wuhan Zoo in central China, they began feeding its two pandas home-cooked chicken soup twice a month to reduce stress and give them a nutritional boost.  The two three year old's, Xi Wang and Wei Wei,  were adopted from the Wolong Reserve arrived in June.  The pandas were served 2.2 pounds of soup in giant dishes, in addition to their regular diet of bamboo, milk and buns.  It was a hit.  "They drank it all like they drank their milk.  They loved it," reports He Zhihua.

The Wolong Journey, Chapter Five